EAT Looking for a last minute gift for the foodie on your list? The Culinary Adventure Company offers gift certificates for your chosen amount, good for a year. Launched in January 2011 by chef Scott Savoie, the company won this year’s Culinary Tourism Experience Award presented by Ontario Tourism and the Ontario Culinary Alliance. The company offers walking and noshing tours of Toronto neighborhoods such as Chef’s Tour of Little Italy and Little India Food and Culture Walk. The former, a progressive dinner, starts at a prohibition style club for cocktails and appetizers at 7 p.m. and then moves to other culinary treasures in the College street area. Discover Greektown is an eating stroll up and down the Danforth that runs every Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Certificates are also good for Chef Scott’s classes such as sausage making, whole hog butchery and “Shoot Your Own Food Porn” as well as his special events like Seafood in the Sky. 416-565-1730, culinaryadventureco.comMargaret Swaine

DRINK OK, so this item bridges both shopping and drinking but, really, what could be better than crossing somebody off the list and simultaneously indulging in a jolt of Toronto’s best espresso? Sam James Coffee in the PATH now provides this twofer, with its plethora of stocking stuffer options, including black and grey SJCB safety sweaters with a reflective 3M diamond ($40) and its new Mason jars/travel cozy mugs ($10), perfect for the hipster/cyclist/coffee fiend on your list. (As a bonus, returning with the Mason jar for refills results in a 25-cent discount.) For less extreme coffee lovers, the SOMA chocolate-covered espresso beans ($4) work nicely, as does the obvious, a bag of Sam James’s excellent coffee. Add to this the chance to put shopping on pause for the briefest of moments and savour a macchiato, mocha latte or hot chocolate and you might even get the hit you need to face the rest of the shopping trip. Sam James Coffee Bar, 150 King Street W. PATH, 647-341-2572, samjamescoffeebar.comChristine Sismondo

SHOP Despite advice from the experts discouraging the practice of buying the kids a puppy at Christmas, many will do so anyway. In that case, at least get a proper head start with a visit to Wooftown, a new local pet store. The online store has opened a flagship around the corner from the Yonge & Summerhill strip to offer everything from nutritional education, crates, beds, collars and leashes to select raw and gourmet healthy brands to humane training advice — like how to start Fido’s behaviour in the home off right. They’re proponents of what are known in some corners as “pet parents.” It’s a welcoming space, whether you’re stocking up on healthy pet foods (there’s also a small area devoted to feline friends) or just dropping by to use the industry-standard dog scale and check that Fido’s thriving. Wooftown, 10 Birch Ave. 416-929-2840, wooftown.comNathalie Atkinson